UNPUBLISHED
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT
No. 13-6155
ROBERT EUGENE EASON,
Petitioner – Appellant,
v.
JOSEPH B. HALL,
Respondent - Appellee.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of North Carolina, at Raleigh. Louise W. Flanagan,
District Judge. (5:13-hc-02006-FL)
Submitted: May 16, 2013 Decided: June 12, 2013
Before KEENAN, FLOYD, and THACKER, Circuit Judges.
Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.
Robert Eugene Eason, Appellant Pro Se.
Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.
PER CURIAM:
Robert Eason seeks to appeal the district court’s
order dismissing his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 (2006) petition without
prejudice as an unauthorized second or successive § 2254
petition. Eason placed his petition form and a memorandum
elaborating on the petition in two separate envelopes, causing
the district court to docket two separate cases. The district
court dismissed the action that was filed second in time as
second or successive, even though the first petition was still
pending and awaiting adjudication.
We grant a certificate of appealability on the issue
of whether the district court erred in dismissing the instant
petition as an unauthorized second or successive petition within
the meaning of 28 U.S.C. § 2244(b) (2006), but we affirm the
district court’s dismissal of the petition without prejudice on
the ground that it was improvidently docketed as a new petition.
We deny a certificate of appealability on any other issues
raised by Eason.
Accordingly, we grant in part and deny in part Eason’s
motion for a certificate of appealability and grant his motion
to proceed in forma pauperis. We dispense with oral argument
because the facts and legal contentions are adequately presented
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in the material before this court and argument will not aid the
decisional process.
AFFIRMED
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